Abstract: Why do Greek governments fail? The question, of course, is somewhat unfair: governments in Athens have achieved great national projects in key historical periods. But, governance in Greece suffers from seemingly endemic organizational problems - of contrasts between rigid rules, yet weak control and coordination; of clientelism, but poor commitment; of generous staffing, but low-skills and resources. Every student of the Greek Constitution learns of the near-unrestrained powers of the Prime Minister. And, if effective management of the government is to occur, then it must stem from the Prime Minister. But here I will argue that successive prime ministers have been 'Emperors withoutclothes'. The internal dysfunctionalities of government emanate from this weakness at the core. As a result, expectations for governments to deliver have been thwarted from major weaknesses of capability, quite aside from any doubts of political will. The constraints are those of a cultural mind-set as to the ways of conducting politics. The recentdebt crisis now exposes these weaknesses and prompts a new debate on establishing more effective governance. This is likely to be crucial for Greece's role in Europe.

This MillerComm Lecture is hosted by:

Modern Greek Studies Program

In conjunction with:

School of Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics (SLCL); Center for Global Studies; Cline Centre for Democracy; European Union Center; Department of French; Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures; Department of History; Department of Linguistics; Department of Political Science; Department of Economics; Center for International Busincess Education and Research (CIBER); and Spurlock Museum.

Series support provided by:

Office of the Chancellor; Office of Equal Opportunity and Access; Office of the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs; Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research; Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs; The Center for Advanced Study; George A. Miller Endowment; Ledyard R. Tucker Fund; Peggy Harris Memorial Fund; The Council of Deans; The David Gottlieb Memorial Foundation and The Graduate College.